52
Table 2. RAID Level Reference Guide
Type
Description
Min. disks
Usable space
Advantage
Disadvantage
Application
JBOD
Just a bunch of disk
1
100%
Each drive can be accessed
as a single volume
No fault tolerance - failure
of one drive results in
complete data loss
Backup
RAID 0
Disk Striping
2
100%
Offers the highest
performance
No fault tolerance
–
failure
of one drive in the array
results in complete data
lose
Temporary file,
performance driven
application.
RAID 1
Disk Mirroring
2
50%
Provides convenient low-cost
data redundancy for smaller
systems and servers
Useable storage space is
50% of total available
capacity. Can handle 1 disk
failure.
Operating system, backup,
and transaction database.
RAID 10
Disk Mirroring
followed by stripe
4
50%
High read performance and
medium write performance
with data protection for up
to 2-drive failures
Useable storage capacity
equals total capacity of all
drives in the array minus
two
Fast database and
application servers which
need performance and data
protection
RAID 5
Disk Striping with
Rotating parity
3
67-87%
High read performance, and
medium write performance
with data protection with a
single drive failure
Not recommended for
database applications that
require frequent/heavy
write sessions. Can handle
1 disk failure.
Data archives, and ideal for
application that require
data protection
